NGX loses N1.77trn as BUA Foods, Unilever trigger sell-off

Nigeria’s equities market shed N1.77 trillion in market capitalisation on Tuesday as heavy losses in BUA Foods, Unilever Nigeria and UACN dragged the NGX All-Share Index down by 1.12 per cent, extending the market’s recent retreat.

The NGX market capitalisation fell from N159.25 trillion to N157.49 trillion, while the All-Share Index declined to 243,967.09 points from 246,723.57 points in the previous session.

The latest sell-off moderated the market’s year-to-date return to 56.78 per cent from 58.55 per cent, although equities remain substantially higher than their level at the beginning of the year.

BUA Foods and Unilever Nigeria were the biggest drags on the benchmark, each falling by about 10 per cent. BUA Foods declined by 10 per cent, while Unilever Nigeria dropped 9.97 per cent. UACN also fell 2.86 per cent, outweighing gains in ETI, CWG and Nestlé, which rose 9.93 per cent, 9.74 per cent and 1.82 per cent respectively.

The market downturn was accompanied by a sharp contraction in trading activity, suggesting weaker investor participation as investors reassessed positions.

Total volume traded fell 62.78 per cent to 1.46 billion units, while transaction value declined 35.55 per cent to N20.94 billion.

Univinsure led trading by volume, with 251.82 million units changing hands, while First HoldCo recorded the highest transaction value at N3.90 billion despite closing flat.

Interestingly, the broader market did not show the same degree of weakness as the benchmark index. Market breadth stood at 1.04x, with 28 stocks advancing against 27 decliners, indicating that the sharp fall in the index was concentrated largely in heavyweight stocks.

Intense Nigeria Insurance led the gainers with a 10 per cent increase, while BUA Foods recorded the largest decline at 10 per cent.

The sell-off also spilled into the NASD over-the-counter market, where the NASD Securities Index fell 1.02 per cent to 4,532.03 points. Market capitalisation declined by the same margin to N2.72 trillion, while its year-to-date return moderated to 27.89 per cent.

Trading activity on the OTC market weakened substantially, with volume falling 89.77 per cent to 150,340 units and transaction value declining 55.90 per cent to N18.66 million across 32 trades.

SDFCWAMCO was the sole gainer, rising 7.94 per cent, while SDCSCSPLC fell 10.26 per cent to emerge as the only decliner.

The equity market weakness came against a relatively stable naira, with the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) appreciating by 0.32 per cent to N1,360.58 per dollar.

Global oil markets were also weighed down by a sharp increase in US crude inventories. US crude stocks rose by 17.4 million barrels in the latest week, the largest weekly build since January 2023, as exports fell to their lowest level since November 2025 while imports increased.

Despite the unusually large inventory build, crude prices remained broadly stable as investors focused on Middle East tensions and treated the inventory increase as potentially temporary.

The latest NGX decline leaves investors weighing the market’s strong year-to-date gains against renewed profit-taking and weakness in major stocks. With market capitalisation now down to N157.49 trillion, the direction of heavyweight counters is likely to remain critical to the market’s near-term performance.